Cop or package of yarn for dyeing.



Y Patented Nov.' 4, |902. S. w. WABDWELL.

COP 0R PACKAGE 0F YARN FR DYEJNG.

(Application filed Nov. 20, 1901.l-

' 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No ModeL) /N ENTUH ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 4, i902. S. W. WARDWELL.

COP 0R PACKAGE 0F YARN FDR -DYEING. (Application med Nov. 2o, 1901.1

' 2 sheefs-sheef- 2.

Il lll llll lllllll'llI 4 Q l O THE NORRIS PETERS C0 PHQTO-LITHG., WASHINGTON. D4 C.

WITNESSES (No Model.)

UNrTnD STATES? PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON W. VVARDVVELL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

'COP OR PACKAGE OF YARN FOR DYEING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,986, dated November 4, 1902.

Application filed November 20, 1901, Serial No. 83,036. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMONW. WARDWELL, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island,vhvave invented certain new and useful Improvements in .Cops or Packages of Yarn for Dyeing, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in.

wound into the form of a cone or cylindrical' tube of uniform porosity and in such manner as to be retained in its original-conformation to be submitted to dyeing and similar processes above referred to and from which the yarn can be subsequently unwound by draw`y ing same over the end of the packageV to in sure maximum speed of delivery and uni-` formity of tension. j

The accompanying drawings disclose the details of my invention, representing, respectively, Figure l, a side view in part section, showing the relation of the cop to the tube in winding; Fig. 2, a side view showing the cop prepared for removal from the mandrel of thev winding-machine ande'ady for subjection to the finishing process; Fig. 8, a side view showing another means for fastening the tube tov retain the yarn in dyeing; Fig. 4, a side view showing the tube in somewhat differentform;

Fig. 5, the cop and tube mounted in positionv for delivering the yarn after nishing.

In Fig. l I have shown a cop Wound upon a conical mandrel or tube-holder, producing a yarn mass in the form of a truncated cone,

Asuch a form facilitating the delivery of the ferred system of winding by which the cop is produced is that known to those versed in the art as the universal or V wind. I have proved by investigationand experiment that by employing this system ofl winding in conjunction ywith suitable holders or tubes, as hereinafter described, a cop may be produced which will readily and uniformlybleach, dye, the., and after treatment will deliver by unwinding over the end with greater uniformity of tension, less breakage, and at higher speed than any other package after such dyeing, dre. As described in my reissued Letters Patent No. 11,856, dated September 18, 1900, the method of winding consists generally in laying the yarn on the cop tube or support in successive layers of crossed helices, each portion Yof the yarn between the ends of the cop being so laid around the tube that when reversed and carried in like manner to the opposite end it will cross and tie down the portion first laid at one or more points. The cop Vis built up of such portions or helices of yarn,

all alike in the number of turns in each, and their intersections, with reverse portions. Each helix in each layer lies throughout its length parallel to and close beside the yarn of a previously-laid helix, and at each end ofthe cop the yarn is carried back abruptly, forming a sharp bend or knuckle when the yarn crosses over the bend of a previous helix at that end. The bend of the yarn of each helix at each end of the cop is so disposed on the periphery of the cop relative t o the bend of the helix previously laid at the same end that each helix lies adjacent a previously-laid helix running in the same direction. Hereto- ,fure this system of winding has been employed with the purpose generally of producing cops which while possessing uniform tensionof delivery shall be exceedingly compact to economize space in packing or to insure a maximum amount of material in the bobbin or holder in which it is employed in the machine. To this end the yarn has been so Wound that each heiixlies closely adjacent to its neighbor.

In carrying out my improvement I open the wind, causing the helices to lie apart slightly to produce a cop of uniformity of texture and of substantially uniform porosity, and although the innermost coils and layers may be somewhat compressed by the elastic constriction of the outer coils of the cop this is remedied bypermitting these inner layers to collapse, as will be hereinafter described. The method of winding described secures in the cop` a maximum amount of material so disposed as to produce a cop of maximum po-Y rosity and is therefore preferable; but other methods of winding may be employed.

The cop-tube, which supports the package after removal from the winding-spindle, may

be formed of any flexible or elastic material.l

A substantially reticulated fabric is preferable, with meshes sufficiently large to permit a free penetration and circulation of the liquor or gas. It may be wtn, knit, or otherwise fabricated to confrm to the`sh`afpeof t he mandrel of the winding-machine or shaped thereto from a sheet of material sewed or fastened in cylindrical or conical form.

Referring first to Fig. 1, B shows a mandrel of a winding-machine of greater diameter than usual, and a exible tube or sleeve A is drawn over the mandrel, forming a closefitting adhesive covering therefor and having extending ends a a, which are disposed in any convenient manner to be out of the way in winding. As shown, the mandrel hasapocket or groove b, and the inner end of the tube is tucked into the pocket. The outer end may lie loosely on the nose b of the mandrel. After' the copA has been wound toitspredetermined thickness in the manner prescribed or otherwise the ends or extentions a a of the tubeA are rolled or folded back over the yarn mass,

as shown in Fig. 2. The smaller end may be' lapped over the larger to retain them in position, or the ends may be connected by a lacing-cord (shown in Fig. 3;) butin most instances the adhesion of the fabric to the yarnis suthcient to keep the endsin place. Another construction of the tube B is shown in Fig. 4, in which the ends are formed into tongues c and are laced together. Other methods might also be employed, the salient fea-ture being the retention of the coils in their proper relation on the cop by extensions ot' the coptube of the character specified folded back over the ends of the cop. Thus protectedthe package may bewuremoved from the winding-spindle without dah'ge to its ends and can then be introducetLdigreuctly to the bath or subjectedtghthe gt/s, as reqiired inthe desired treatment. The liquor or gas easily circulates through the tube A and through the comparatively thin walls of the tubular mass of yarn, and any shrinkage of the yarn occurring simply contracts the tubeA without binding the layers of yarn thereon or materially cotnpacting the package. It is not required that the cops retain absolutely their cylindrical or conical form for and during their subjection to the permeating Huid. Therefore stiffening or sizing of the tube is unnecessary, and I have fully determined by eX- periment that after the extensions a a have been folded over the ends of the cop the latter may be attened out and subjected to .end at high speed, thus economizing floorconsiderable rough handling without disarrangement of the coils or injury to the yarn. After the yarn has been finishwdwlo the tube A may be placed on a andrel or other suitable support, with the ends or extensions a a so disposed as to be out of the way in unwinding. As shown in Fig. 5, the smaller end is tucked into the end of the hollow support C and the larger end is allowed to hang down loosely over the base of the su pport. The yarn is now free to be delivered by unwinding over the end to any appropriate machine in any process. 8o

The ad vantages of a dye-cop wound in the above-described manner are the following: The yarn is massed in compact form, and hence the cop is mostconvenient for handling, packing, and shipping. The coils of yarn crossing and recrossing each other regularly between the ends of the package form each layer in a kind of network, and the combination of these layers forms a packageV with myriad pores substantially uniform in size and relation, through which the dye fluid may penetrate freely and uniformly. The regular crossing of the yarns imparts stability to the package, and the abrupt reversal of each coil at the end of the package prevents the coils from falling over the end in handling or from other causes. The most important advantage lies in the fact that the yarn can be unwound from the cop overthe [OO space and labor and minimizing waste of yarn. I-Ieretofore the only practical method of dyeing and similarly treating yarns has been to treat it in skeins. This method involves several distinct winding operations, all of which are slow and costly. Prior to dyeing the yarn must be reeled into skein form. Be' fore the skeins are removed from the reels leases must be tied in at various points to maintain the yarn in position in the skein and secure and locate the leading end. In the process of dyeing the yarn becomes more or less tangled between the leases, which are so few in number and so far separated as to be inadequate to prevent entanglement of the yarns. In some processes the yarn is wound directly from the skein to the quill or bobbin which is to be employed in subsequent operations. This operation is a particularly slow one. Before the skeins can be unwound they must be straightened and the yarns freed, performed by throwing one end of the skein over a pole or hook and pulling or jerking the other end sharply while shifting the skein about its support. The skein is then placed upon the swift (a form of reel employed to support the skein during the unwinding) and again straightened in place, the leases cut, and the leading ends secured. The winding can be done only at very low speed, for no matter how delicately hung and well-balanced the swift its mass is so great that it cannot be started to rotate quickly and suddenly. The

inertia of the swift and its yarn so resists the pull of a sudden start as to cause the yarn to break When a fine yarn or a loosely-twisted material is being Wound. VSo great are the difficulties of winding fine yarns from the skein that manufacturers have dyed the raw material before carding and spinning, thus obtaining their tine colored yarns direct from the spinning machinery. rPhe disadvantages of this method are obvious. Besides the ad-` ditional expense attending this method of handling the exact character of the yarn and the purpose for which it is to be usedmust be determined prior to its manufacture. Where yarn can be dyed in the skein or in equivalent form no attention need be paid in spinning to the ultimate purpose for which the yarn is intended, so far, at least, as color is concerned. A large quantity of yarn can be carried continuously through the spinning operations and after completion can be parceled out for various purposes and treatments as desired. WhenV dyed in the fleece or raw state, the various machines through which the dyed material is passed must be most carefully cleaned before a new color can be spun. The swifts from which the yarn is unrolledare seldom balanced. The yarn is not supported equidistantly from the axis of rotation, so that the swift receives intermittently an impetus to a faster rotation than its normal speed. This impetus comes from and with a sudden pull on the yarn, or, what is the same thing, with increased tension.

With accelerated motion due to the pull and carried by its own momentum the swift runs ahead for a time, delivering the yarn with excessive freedom, gradually slacking its speed until a fresh im petns is received. In this way the tension of delivery fluctuates, tending to a corresponding irregularity in the fabric in` y which the yarn is ultimatelyincorporated. In

higher speed over the end of package and directly from the package in which the yarn is dyed an economy is eected in the cost of winding by reducing the number of machines required and the number of operators lleretofore necessary to operate them and in the floor-space occupied by the winding and otherattendant machinery. The product per operator in winding is increased, because less timeis expended in keeping the windingmachines supplied with yarn. The dye-cop contains more yarn than does a skein, and hence the winding-supply does not need to be replenished so frequently. When the supply must be replenished, it is only necessary to place a new cop on the supply-holder, tie up the ends, and start the winding. All the yarn will be withdrawn from the supplypackage without requiring further attention on the part of the operator. lVhen a skeinsupply is employed, the supply must be frequently replenished, time is consumed in straightening the skein and preparing it for unwinding, as above indicated, and in piecing broken ends and freeing snarls and tangles after the winding has been started. Further, the yarn may be directly employed in some instances in the production of fabric-as, for instance, in manufacturing knit goods. The most effective way of preparing yarn for use in knitting-machines at the present time is to spool it from the skeins and then wind it from the spools into cones. Where my improved package can be employed, the two operations pf spooling and coning are eliminated.

' Attempts have been made to dye yarn in the cop; but they have not been successful, because, rst, appropriate tubes were not perfected on which to Wind yarns prior to dye- 'ing, and, second, the method of winding and supporting the cop employed was not such as to insure in the cop a uniform porosity or absorbent capacity. Tubes or supports of many materials haveheen proposed, but principally wire-cloth or perforated metal. Such tubes because oftheir rigidity cause a variation in the density and porosity of the cop, as the outer layers of the latter constrict the inner ones, compressing them and rendering the interior portion of the cop adjacent the tube more dense. A flexible tube of appropriate material yields readily under the constrictive pressure, permitting the interior portion of the cop to collapse, thereby tendingto loosen its inner, coils and equalize its porosity. In the methods of winding dye-cops heretofore employed no attempt has been made to lay the yarns regularly and precisely. Consequently the coils Contact in some places, limiting absorption, and in others, being widely separated, provide for quicker permeation, and therefore the material is uneveuly treated and an uneven product results. Again,

if the coils of one layer are Vlaid parallel, or`

nearly so, to those of an adjoining layer the coils of one layer in shrinking will be forced between those of the lunderneath layer. In unwinding this will cause extra and uneven tension on the yarn. The crossing of the coils in the successive layers in the universal method of winding hereinbefore de-v l. A yarn package for dyeing,&c.,conV

sisting of a flexible hollow cop and a Vholder of open fabric extending through, across the IOO ros;

IIO

across the ends and over ythe outside of the cop, with its ends secured together, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my :5 name to this specification1 in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SIMON W. WARD WELL.

Witnesses:

. JOSHUA B. HALE,

THOMAS M. CHILDS. 

